Category Archives: Candidate Information

It’s time to make a change. You either need a new job, or you want a new job. Either way the process is basically the same. Take what have learned from the past, and apply it to future. It’s time to move forward and make things happen. But where do you start?

We can help you walk through what seems to be an overwhelming task; the task of finding what’s next, and then ultimately getting to where you want to be. Maybe it’s a new job, a new career, something you’ve always wanted to do, or maybe it’s
“dolce far niente”……..the Italian term for the ‘sweetness of doing nothing’.

No matter what it is, we can help walk you to it or through it.

If the ‘sweetness of doing nothing’ is not an option, then we can help you focus initially on what you want to do to see if it’s feasible for your situation. Finding a new situation requires a three step process;

preparation

doing what needs to be done

‘cleaning up’ or finishing the tasks at hand.

This includes creating an attention-getting cover letter, to preparing an energized resume.

Then we take you to the all important interview; that face-to-face opportunity to make it without breaking it. We help you know what to do before the interview, during the interview, and after the interview.

Look at the whole process like skydiving for the first time; you can choose to do it all on your own (what could possibly go wrong) and maybe be successful, or you can work (jump) with someone who’s done it before and knows what to do.

We can and will help you through the process step by step. Anything is simple when you know it, and we know it.

The interview is over and you’re feeling guardedly optimistic that you nailed it. Your preparation was superb, your resume was a work of art, your cover letter even impressed you, and you looked like a million bucks, you had an answer for every question, and you’re convinced the interviewer really liked you. They said you would hear from them within a few days; what could possibly go wrong.

A few days go by, then a few weeks, and you’re still waiting to hear from someone. Now your confidence begins to quickly erode. You start to feel a sense of panic, and then you grab hold of yourself and become hysterical. And just then you get a letter in the mail or an email and your excitement builds again; you begin to read it and they want you……not. What could possibly have gone wrong you ask. You replay the interview and start to play mental gymnastics with yourself trying to figure out what happened.

You read the rejection correspondence over and over looking for some hidden message with no success. It’s the typical three paragraph letter of rejection. The first paragraph starts out, “Thank you for taking the time to meet with us……” then the second paragraph states, “At this time we don’t have a suitable position for you…..”; and then the third paragraph finishes it off with “We wish you success with your future endeavors…”

Rejection is bad enough, but not knowing why is what drives you nuts. If you knew the answer to that, you could fix it in the future either with that company or a different company. You get the courage to contact the interviewer to see if some light can be shed on the rejection. If your lucky you get a return call, however typically you don’t get a return call, and if you do the answer you get is so generic that it doesn’t help you other than to have the interviewer ‘let you down’ gently with a candy coated answer like “We really did like you, and it came down to two candidates and the other person was a better match.

So what’s the deal? Well, the bottom line is that seldom if ever will you get a straight answer. Even if the interviewer wants to provide it to you, HR requirements will prevent this from happening. From their point of view, nothing good can happen for them, and at worst it can open up a can or worms, hence the reason for no response from them, or a bland, generic answer is provided to you.

The best you can hope for is that you and the interviewer connected on some level of compassion, and he or she is willing to give you a slight idea as to the issue. And even then most likely you will have to read between the lines to understand the true meaning of the words and reason for rejection.

It’s worth the attempt on your part; it’s better to error on the side of assertiveness rather than passiveness. And who knows, maybe it could even reopen the door for you.

So exactly why didn’t I get the job? This is the $50,000 question or whatever that potential job was going to pay. There are as many possible answers to that question as there might be planets in the heavens; however some of the more common reasons include the following:

It’s a matter of numbers. If ten candidates interview for one position, and three are truly qualified, yet only one can be hired, that means two highly qualified candidates were not selected.

Chemistry or likeability. As objective as interviewers are, they are still people and subjectivity enters the equation. Something connects the interviewer with the interviewee; maybe it’s humor, hometown, school, background, the way you look, or even an intangible that simply clicks between two people.

A major screw-up; something you could have controlled but you didn’t. This includes poor manners, inadequate social skills, you looked in disarray or disheveled, poor communication skills, disconnected answers to questions, rambling answers, late to the interview, etc.

Inexperienced interviewer. Sometimes the absolute best candidate can be sitting right there with the interviewer, and the interviewer misses the opportunity to take the candidate to the next level.

It’s a proactive interview. A job doesn’t really exist (now) but it might in the future and the interviewer is creating a ‘stock pile’ of potential candidates for when a position does open.

You are a practice ‘run’ for the interviewer. It’s unfortunate, but this does happen. Your intention is to get a job, and the interviewer’s intention is to get some real-life practice in interviewing.

Quota, favoritism or pre-determined. This is another unfortunate situation where the interviewer knows the position will go to an internal, however it requires that externals be considered even though the decision has already been made.

A change in company or hiring plans. At the time you interview the position is or will be available, but during the process either the open-position does not become open, or there is a change in the company’s hiring situation.

So it’s not always something you did ‘wrong’ or could have controlled. It’s very possible you did everything correctly and you were the best candidate, however the needs of the situation dictated a different outcome. The key is for you to learn from every experience and persevere.